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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26344084">Blame, Guilt, and a Side of Forgiveness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai'>Settiai</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Conversations, F/M, Head Injury, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, The Black Emporium Exchange, Treat, Worry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:48:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,306</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26344084</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Natia's head was killing her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Zevran Arainai/Female Brosca</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Black Emporium 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Blame, Guilt, and a Side of Forgiveness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/stitchcasual/gifts">stitchcasual</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Natia's head was killing her.</p><p>It was her own damn fault for getting distracted during a fight, and she knew it.  She wasn't some green amateur who didn't know how to handle herself.  She'd been practicing with blades since her hands were barely big enough to hold them, and she knew better than to let her guard down – especially when she was up against someone taller, heavier, and stronger than her.</p><p>But all it had taken was one yelp of pain from Zevran for her to lose focus entirely on her own fight, and now her aching head was paying the consequences.  Why did she have to go and develop feelings for the bastard?  They made everything so damn complicated.</p><p>"How are you feeling?"</p><p>Speaking of...</p><p>Natia blinked a few times, trying to resolve the blurry blob of color in front of her into something resembling a person, before giving up.  "My vision's still shot," she grumbled.  "I can't see a fucking thing."</p><p>Zevran let out an amused-sounding chuckle.  "Head wounds can do that," he said, his voice light.  "I remember this time back in Antiva—"</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, I know how your stories go," Natia said, cutting him off with a wave of her hand.  "Someone died, someone got stabbed, someone ended up in a brothel, and there may or may not have been a fire or two."</p><p>"I see you've been listening to my stories," Zevran said with a laugh.  "I'm impressed."</p><p>There was the sound of movement, followed by the log she was sitting on creaking slightly as if someone had sat down beside her.  Natia turned her head in that direction, following the vaguely elf-shaped blob of color she could kind of make out.</p><p>"What can I say?  You're hard to ignore," she shot back, rolling her eyes.</p><p>Then she groaned, immediately regretted that decision as a wave of nausea rushed through her.  She snapped her eyes closed, bringing her hand up to rub at her throbbing head again.</p><p>"Brosca?  Natia?"  There were suddenly hands on her shoulders, squeezing a little tighter than they probably needed to.  "Natia, can you hear me?  Do I need to get Wynne?"</p><p>It was kind of impressive just how quickly Zevran's tone of voice had shifted from his usual calm and collected self to something that sounded pretty damn close to panicking.</p><p>"Aw, you do care," Natia said, slowly opening her eyes and blinking a few times as the worst of the nausea went back to wherever it had come from.  Her vision was still down for the count, but she was almost entirely certain the blob of color that looked to be an inch or so in front of her face was probably Zevran.</p><p>She leaned forward to kiss him.</p><p>Natia missed his lips, hitting the tip of his nose instead, but hey.  It was the thought that counted.</p><p>Zevran let out a disgruntled sound and pulled away.</p><p>"What?" she asked, blinking automatically even though she knew it wasn't going to magically fix her vision.  Wynne herself had said to give it some time.  "Are you mad at me or something?  I know that I fucked up back in the fight, but it's not like I was trying to get hurt."</p><p>The only reply she got was silence.</p><p>Natia frowned.  "Zevran?" she asked, squinting at the vaguely elf-shaped blob that she'd thought was him.  "You're still there, right?"</p><p>Still no answer.  Something that felt suspiciously like worry settled in her gut, a feeling that she'd misjudged something or messed up without even realizing it.  What had she done wrong?  Was it about the fight?  Was he pissed at her for letting herself get distracted by him?  It's not like she had meant to.  It had just <em>happened</em> before she had even realized it.</p><p>"Zevran?"</p><p>She hated that her voice got quieter all on its own accord whenever she was upset.  Leske had always teased her about it back in Orzammar.  She'd never been able to stop it, though, no matter how much she'd tried.</p><p>"Why would you think I'd be mad at you?" Zevran asked finally, his voice softer and significantly more serious than she was used to hearing from him.</p><p>Natia frowned.  "Because I fucked up?" she said, a tiny lilt at the end turning it into more of a question than she'd intended.  "I got distracted.  I knew better, but I still did."</p><p>There was another pause.  "You were distracted by me," Zevran said finally, sounding almost... puzzled?  It was hard to tell without being able to see his face, but she was almost certain that was confusion she was hearing in his voice.</p><p>"I mean, yes," Natia agreed.  "I'm usually better at keeping my focus, but I recognized your voice when you screamed and couldn't help but look."</p><p>There was another long moment of silence.</p><p>Natia frowned.  "Am I missing something?"</p><p>Zevran let out a very tired sounding sigh.  "It is my fault that you were injured."</p><p>Natia blinked.  Then for good measure she blinked again, more out of habit than anything else.  "That's nugshit."</p><p>Zevran didn't reply.</p><p>Natia almost rolled her eyes again, but she thought better of it at the last second considering just how well that had gone a few minutes earlier. Instead she slid down the log a bit, slowly and carefully, until she was right beside the Zevran-shaped blob that she could mostly see.  She reached out, blindly groping for one of his hands.</p><p>... well, that wasn't his hand, but judging by the sound he'd just made, she at least had gotten his attention.</p><p>"Seriously, Zevran, that's ridiculous and you know it," she said, trying to make her voice as stern as she could manage.  "You didn't ask for that bandit to stab you – and don't think that I didn't notice that she fucking stabbed you – and I didn't ask for her buddy to try and crush my head in with his hammer."</p><p>"I still distracted you," Zevran said, and she could definitely hear the bitterness in his voice.  Had that been there all along?  She hoped not.  She was more out of it than she'd realized if she'd missed that.</p><p>This time Natia did roll her eyes, pushing through the immediate nausea as best she could.  "Please, like I didn't distract you in the first place," she shot back.  "Or are you going to try and tell me that you weren't watching me instead of your back when you got stabbed?"</p><p>This time, the silence had a distinct awkward tone to it.</p><p>"I thought so," Natia said, not even trying to hide the smugness in her voice.  "So, if anything, it's my fault that you and I ended up getting hurt."</p><p>Zevran let out a chuckle that almost sounded real, although Natia had her suspicions.  He was a lot harder to read when she couldn't see his face.  "That, my Warden, is ridiculous."</p><p>"I'm glad that you agree," Natia said brightly.  "It's almost as ridiculous as saying it's your fault."</p><p>The sigh that Zevran let out wasn't exactly agreement but, hey, Natia would take what she could get.  She'd learned that the hard way.</p><p>"Come on," she said, reaching out and trying to find his hand again.  This time, he took pity on her and grabbed hers as she waved it midair.</p><p>"And where are we going?" Zevran asked, a hint of his usual lightheartedness slipping back into his voice even though she'd be willing to bet a fair bit of coin that it was just an act.  Still, baby steps.</p><p>Natia grinned at him.  "No idea," she said brightly.  "I can't see a thing, so I'm just going to have trust you to lead me.  Try not to let me fall, okay?"</p><p>For a moment, Zevran didn't say anything.  Then he squeezed her hand tightly.  "Never."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Find me on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/settiai)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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